Monmouthshire County Council is seeking the views of residents and others to help inform their Local Toilet Strategy. The council is required to publish the report by 31st May 2019 due to the Public Health (Wales) Act 2017.
The Act aims to address a number of specific public health concerns and to create social conditions that are conducive to good health and includes the provision of toilets for public use. Each local authority in Wales is required to prepare and publish a local toilets strategy for its area.
The strategy must include an assessment of the provision and accessibility of toilets across the county, including changing facilities for babies and changing places facilities for disabled people. The views of residents, and other interested parties, are essential and will help to ascertain the level of provision which currently exists and help inform the council’s plan for the future.
The Act does not place a duty on local authorities to provide or maintain public toilets. In Monmouthshire a large proportion of public toilets are provided by Town and Community Councils.
As well as traditional public toilet blocks, the public are able to access other Council facilities, including leisure centres and libraries, together with privately available toilets, in restaurants, supermarkets and public houses.
Monmouthshire’s Cabinet member with responsibility for Public Protection, County Councillor Sara Jones said:
‘I encourage residents, local businesses and visitors to complete the survey. It is so important to listen to our communities, to find out what provision currently exists and where there is a need for more toilets and changing facilities.
‘The results of the survey will help inform future planning with our partners, including Town and Community Councils. We are pleased that they have taken over the running of many of the public toilet blocks since 2010. We will continue to work with them and other providers, to ensure we meet the future needs of our communities.’
‘It is unfortunate there is no additional funding from Welsh Government to improve existing facilities. We look forward to working with providers to look for creative solutions to increase accessibility in Monmouthshire.’
The survey will run from 19th December to 11th January 2019 and can be accessed via our website: www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/monmouthshire-local-toilet-survey
